Birth outcomes, puberty onset, and obesity as long-term predictors of biological aging in young adulthood

Martin Jáni; Lenka Zacková; Pavel Piler; Lenka Andrýsková; Milan Brázdil; Klára Marečková

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.1100237

Birth outcomes, puberty onset, and obesity as long-term predictors of biological aging in young adulthood

Front Nutr. 2023 Jan 10:9:1100237. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1100237. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Martin Jáni^{1

2}, Lenka Zacková^{1

3}, Pavel Piler⁴, Lenka Andrýsková⁴, Milan Brázdil^{1

3}, Klára Marečková¹

Affiliations

¹ Brain and Mind Research, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.
² Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czechia.
³ Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.
⁴ RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.

Abstract

Background: Biological aging and particularly the deviations between biological and chronological age are better predictors of health than chronological age alone. However, the predictors of accelerated biological aging are not very well understood. The aim was to determine the role of birth outcomes, time of puberty onset, body mass index (BMI), and body fat in accelerated biological aging in the third decade of life.

Methods: We have conducted a second follow-up of the Czech part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ) prenatal birth cohort in young adulthood (52% male; age 28-30; n = 262) to determine the role of birth outcomes, pubertal timing, BMI, and body fat on biological aging. Birth outcomes included birth weight, length, and gestational age at birth. Pubertal timing was determined by the presence of secondary sexual characteristics at the age of 11 and the age of first menarche in women. Biological age was estimated using the Klemera-Doubal Method (KDM), which applies 9-biomarker algorithm including forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), systolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, C-reactive protein, creatinine, urea nitrogen, albumin, and alkaline phosphatase. Accelerated/decelerated aging was determined as the difference between biological and chronological age (BioAGE).

Results: The deviations between biological and chronological age in young adulthood ranged from -2.84 to 4.39 years. Accelerated biological aging was predicted by higher BMI [in both early (R² _adj = 0.05) and late 20s (R² _adj = 0.22)], subcutaneous (R² _adj = 0.21) and visceral fat (R² _adj = 0.25), puberty onset (η _p ² = 0.07), birth length (R² _adj = 0.03), and the increase of BMI over the 5-year period between the two follow-ups in young adulthood (R² _adj = 0.09). Single hierarchical model revealed that shorter birth length, early puberty onset, and greater levels of visceral fat were the main predictors, together explaining 21% of variance in accelerated biological aging.

Conclusion: Our findings provide comprehensive support of the Life History Theory, suggesting that early life adversity might trigger accelerated aging, which leads to earlier onset of puberty but decreasing fitness in adulthood, reflected by more visceral fat and higher BMI. Our findings also suggest that reduction of BMI in young adulthood slows down biological aging.

Keywords: BMI; biological aging; birth outcomes; life history theory; obesity; puberty.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Czech Health Research Council (NU20J-04-00022), the European Union (Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development, FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2013, grant #6485124), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement No 857560, and the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports/MEYS CR (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_043/0009632 and CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000469; LM2018121; LX22NPO5107–funded through European Union–Next Generation EU). This publication reflects only the author’s view, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.